Thursday miscellany

Exercise at the Y, followed by a massage. It made for a pretty good morning.
=========================================An online newspaper here, nooga.com, posted a link to a fabulous story on the CBS morning show about Chattanooga. To watch it, Click here.
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The Lady Vols cinched the SEC women’s basketball title tonight by beating Texas A&M, 82-72. Only one more game in the regular season, and then on to the SEC tournament.

Making the paper

John and I wound up on the front page of the Sports Section of the Chattanooga Times Free Press this morning.  We're in the upper right-hand corner, wearing gold shirts, with our heads just on either side of the "112" sign.

Sorry, can't seem to get it posted with just us cropped out (and out of focus).

Monday, All day

I didn't sleep well last night, and all my parts hurt/ache. I had the worst cards at bridge that I think I've ever had - and what I did have, I bid very poorly. Guess I'm having a pity-party today - sorry. I'll be better.

The good part was that our Lady Mocs won tonight. With tonight's 68-59 win over Davidson, the UTC Lady Mocs clinched sole possession of the Southern Conference title. One more conference game (that doesn't affect the outcome of the title), then on to the SoCon Tournament.
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Have you seen the new program Monday Mornings on TNT? It’s really quite good.

Mount Etna

This is what Mount Etna looked like last spring when we were in Sicily.

This is what it looks like now (beginning last week).

And this is a color-enhanced picture taken from the Space Station (the red is hot lava, the turquoise is snow).

 

Wow!

Half-time

We went to a basketball game tonight (surprise!) - UTC Lady Mocs 81, Western Carolina 39. We love winning - winning big is great, but it doesn’t make for a thrilling spectator game.

Sometimes the half-time entertainment is good - sometimes not so much. Tonight was one of the good ones. A Chinese acrobat called Red Panda. She did an amazing balancing/juggling act.

Click here to watch a short video of part of her act.

Another good half-time entertainment we get is from one of our local universities, Southern Adventist University. It’s a religious school (Seventh Day Adventist Church) in our county. The school has a gymnastic team called the Gym Masters. This large group performs all over the country, and they are spectacular.  Click here to watch a 5 1/2-minute video of one of their performances.

Tonight we won the game handily, and got some good half-time entertainment, too.

Funny.

Forgot My Glasses

Yesterday my daughter again asked why I didn't do something useful with my time. Talking about my "doing something useful" seemed to be her favorite topic of conversation. She was "only thinking of me" and suggested I go down to the senior center and hang out with the guys. I did this and when I got home last night I decided to teach her a lesson about staying out of my business. I told her that I had joined a parachute club.

She said, "Are you nuts? You're almost 72 years old and you're going to start jumping out of airplanes?" I proudly showed her that I even got a membership card.

She said to me, "Good grief, where are your glasses! This is a membership to a Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club."

"I'm in trouble again, and I don't know what to do... I signed up for five jumps a week." I told her. She fainted.

Life as a senior citizen is not getting any easier but sometimes it can be fun.

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Heard on TV today:
“I’ve been on welfare and food stamps, but nobody bailed me out.”

Seriously?????

Wednesday night

This really is a crazy winter - weekly blizzards in some places and tornadoes (of all things) in others. Our high today has been only in the 40s, but it’s supposed to be warmer as we get toward the weekend.

I had the last of this session of painting classes today. I’m nearing completion of the last two pieces I started. I’m through with the “big stuff” and working now on the smaller refinements - which for me is usually the hard part. My instructor’s next session starts near the end of March. I’m not going to sign up - I know I’ll be missing two classes. She’s said I can come the other times because I missed so much last fall, so that’s what I’ll probably do.

Exciting? Not really.

How exciting can it be to do 30 minutes with the arm-strength machines at the Y?  Followed by Aldi and WalMart? Wow!

At least we wound up with a beautiful sunny day.

Pre-March Monday

This evening was all about basketball. From 7-9, we listened on the radio to the Lady Mocs game. They beat Georgia Southern 67-50. John watched the University of KY beat Texas A&M with the sound muted. From 9-11, he watched Baylor beat the University of Connecticut.

It must be almost time for March Madness.

Silent Sunday



Just an ordinary Saturday...

I finished assembling lasagnas today - vegetarian with spinach and mushrooms yesterday, and with meat sauce today.

Our Lady Mocs beat the College of Charleston by 13 points - after being tied at the half.

I think the new folks have finally moved in across the street. I made some lemon bars, and we took them over this afternoon. They look like a nice young couple.

A Productive Day

Our swim class mostly didn't happen today. There was a short or something in the fire alarm at the Y, and they couldn't get it stopped. The fire department had been there, and a tech was supposedly working on it. But the shrieking was literally ear-splitting - especially in the pool area. There are 4 alarms in the enclosure, and that noise reverberating off the tile walls and floors was literally to the point of pain. We were in the pool for about 20 minutes when the lifeguard said he had to close the pool - the guards had to get away from the noise. So we got to coffee early.

My task for the rest of the day was to make lasagnas. Margaret had requested a vegetarian lasagna, with spinach and mushrooms and no meat in the sauce. So that required some thought and adjustment in getting the ingredients. I've gotten those made and in the freezer (3 whole ones and one smaller one for Margaret). And then I made meat sauce to make some regular ones. I have to go back to the store in the morning to get some more mozzarella and ricotta, then I'll assemble those tomorrow. That leaves only the meat loaves to get done to replenish the freezer for the year.

It was a productive day.

Music

 
String Theory! The chamber music concert tonight was terrific - a string trio. They played works by Mendelssohn and Dvorak - both great. We stopped at Subway on the way home, and brought our sandwiches home to eat.

 

 

Piano, cello,

Violin, Mendelssohn, and

Dvorak. Great evening.

Wednesday, gray and rainy

We did the Y and coffee this morning, and then I went to painting. No masterpieces yet, but I am working on a couple of new pieces - and making some progress.

I did a bad thing when I got home, though. I had come in the house, and John was helping me bring in my stuff and put it in the back room (as usual). I was walking backwards down the hall, pulling one of the boxes, and tripped on a wrinkle in the rug/runner. Down I went! Fortunately, I landed on my butt, so no damage. I did hit my elbow, and I'm sure it'll be bruised and sore tomorrow - plus general soreness all over from the jarring. It took me a while to collect myself, and then go find a way to get up off the floor. I was SOOO mad at myself. I really hate this feeling of not being able to stay upright. Of course, John was worried sick, but he finally got calmed down, too. John was going to banish the lovely oriental runner (it was his mother's). He finally said that if I promised to either let him put up my supplies or pick up the rug first, he’d put it back. Of course, I promised.

Now I KNOW I'm really going to appreciate the massage tomorrow.

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Our grandsons’ cousin, Kevin, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He has been in treatment with several biopsies, and is scheduled for chemo and a possible bone marrow transplant. He’s in his mid20s, and he and his wife had two small girls. All good thoughts and prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Being creative

“…go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”    Kurt Vonnegut
I’ve always said that we are all creative - each in his/her own way. And it doesn’t matter what it is. Creativity is not limited to what we usually think of as the “Arts”. Cooking, gardening, auto maintenance, horseback riding, teaching, sewing, computer design, the possibilities are endless.

Vonnegut had it right - you should definitely make creativity part of your life.

A very long day

Whew, this was one LLLOOONNNGGG day.

We got up at 76 to go to the Y, then to coffee. The cleaning lady was finishing up when we got home. I turned on the coffee pot, and it had died - only after about a year.

We got our usual Monday early lunch, went to WalMart for the coffee pot replacement, and headed on to bridge. That was until 4:30 (some interesting hands, but nothing spectacular).

From there, we headed straight downtown to the Lady Mocs game. It was a tough game, bt we beat UNCG by a score of 74-68.

We stopped at a new local place for dinner after the game. Unfortunately, we won’t be going back there. It was mediocre at best. And then we finally got home and settled about 8:30.

Just as soon not doing one that long anytime soon (unless travel is involved, of course).

Silent Sunday

 

 

Mediterranean Sunset

Sunday Stealing

As usual, I got this meme from Sunday Stealing.

Sunday Stealing: The Basically Obscure Meme-Part 2

1: Would you swear in front of your parents
I probably did, but only after I was an adult.

2: Which continents have you been on?
North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica

3: Do you get motion sickness? Any horror stories?
Not really. The only time I get motion sickness is in an I-Max theater.

4: Why did you name your blog whatever you named your blog?
I wanted to use the unusual letter of my last name.

5: Would you wear a rainbow jacket? A neon yellow sweater? Checkered pants?
A rainbow jacket, yes. I don’t do yellow. With hips like these, nobody should wear checkered pants.

6: What was your favorite cartoon growing up? Post a picture if you can.
I don’t remember - these would be in the movies - pre-TV. Maybe Tom & Jerry.

7: In a past life I must have been a...
Who knows - just not the way my mind works.

8: If you had to look at one city skyline for the rest of your life, which would it be?
I wouldn’t want to look at any city skyline. I’d choose Bryce Canyon or the Valley of the Gods.

9: Longest plane ride you've ever been on?
Sydney, Australia, to Los Angeles

10: The longest you've ever slept?
I think I slept for 10 hours once - can’t remember why.

11: Would you buy a sweater covered in kitten pictures? Would you wear it if someone gave it you for free?
No and no. I would see that it got a nice home somewhere else.
12: Do you pluck your eyebrows?
Nope - never did do that.

13: Favorite kind of bean? Kidney? Black? Pinto?
I love them all - also October beans, lima beans, butter beans.

14: How far can you throw a baseball?
Maybe 3 feet.

15: If you had to move to another country, where would you move?
Canada or New Zealand

16: Have you ever eaten Ethiopian food? Vietnamese? Korean? Nepalese? How was it?
All of those except Nepalese. Loved them all.

17: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
As much as she could chuck.

Winter Storm Nemo

Mother Nature must

Love the East Coast. She sends her

Most active helpers.

 

Might be much better

If it wasn’t tough love, and

She sent gentler friends.

Thursday chores

It was a busy morning around here - and it was amazing how quickly things went. I went for my mammogram. My appointment was at 10, and I was back in my car before 10:20. I never even had time to open the book I brought with me. No indication that anything was amiss, and the tech said I should get my report mailed to me in about a week.

I picked up a prescription and did a quick trip to WalMart for a couple of things I forgot on Tuesday. I went to the Y and one of the "sweet young things" (unfortunately not a hot young guy) showed me some of the machines and some other pieces of equipment to use. I didn't do anything more than a short trial on each piece. We may get back there on Saturday. I'm not going to try to do machines and swim on the same day. So all the chores were done before lunch.

And the Lady Vols managed to pull out a one-point squeaker win over LSU tonight.

Orthopedic update

After the usual Wednesday morning stuff (swimming, coffee, and painting), I went to the orthopedist for a followup. As on previous visits, the surgical site and the prosthesis are doing well. There is new bone formation happening. This are good things.

I obviously still have a very good passive range of motion, and less than perfect range of motion. It’s good up to about horizontal, and then it’s not so good. He repeated some exercises that I should be doing at home. I asked him about going for some additional physical therapy, and he said he didn’t think that was necessary.

The doc said I should start going to the Y and working on the machines for the upper body/arms; that it'll still be a good while before I reach maximum improvement. And I may never be able to have the complete range of motion I did before - like up over my head, etc. I guess I'm lucky to have the prospect of getting most of the motion back in any case - considering the extent of the injury and surgeries. So I’ll keep working at it, and starting going to the fitness center at the Y. Oh, joy! John says I can get some young stud to help me use the machines correctly.

I’ve been having more and more trouble with my foot (the one I had surgery on ten years ago). I asked him for some advice about that. Other than the obvious deformities, he said the pins seemed to be okay. He said that there was no padding at all on the soles of my feet (imagine that - any part of my body with NO padding!), and that I might get some benefit from some inner soles in my shoes and a metatarsal pad. So we’re going to try that for a while to see if that brings some relief, before we consider doing anything else.

So no definitive answers from the doctor, but he listened and we’re continuing to work on the problems.

Tuesday

 

Aldi and WalMart,

Haircuts. Chili in freezer.

So much for Tuesday.

Puns

I love puns! Especially the long, convoluted stories ending in groaners. Rhymes with Plague   wrote his blog this morning on puns, and three of the four stories he told were new to me. I loved it, and had to share.

RwP wrote: When I worked for a living, one of my bosses was a man named Horace Stone. When he neared retirement, I hoped he would convert to Catholicism and enter the priesthood. That way, he would have been a Horace of a different collar.

There was once an Indian chief named Shortcake. When he died, his wife refused to turn his body over to the local mortuary, saying, “No need for mortician. Squaw bury Shortcake.”

In Africa, the chief of a village lived in a hut made entirely of grass. Even the ceilings were made of grass. One day the people of his village presented him with a special chief’s throne they had made. He was very proud of it but afraid that an enemy might come along and steal it, so he asked the people to hoist his throne up in the air with a rope so that it could be kept in his attic. In the middle of the night, however, it fell through the bedroom ceiling and killed him as he slept. The moral of this story is clear: People who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones.

Here’s one for the mathematicians. Another Indian chief (not Shortcake) had three wives. He gave one of them a buffalo hide, one of them a cowhide, and one of them a hippopotamus hide. Soon the first wife bore him twin sons. Later, the second wife also bore him twin sons. A few months after that, the chief’s third wife gave birth to four healthy boys -- quadruplets! It is obvious that the sons of the squaw of the hippopotamus are equal to the sons of the squaws of the other two hides.

XLVII

 

It’s Super Bowl Sunday.

We had pizza for supper.

But no wings or dips.

Small accomplishments

We decided to go to the Y this morning - John in the fitness center, and me in the pool. While we were there, it started snowing like a son-of-a-gun! Oh, well, we said - it probably won't stick.

Guess what.

When we came out, all the streets were covered. Fortunately, the idiots were driving fairly slowly. But when we got to our neighborhood, three cars were blocking the first hill we had to climb to get home. John turned around, and went into one of the back roads to our subdivision. There are lots of ups and downs to get there. But the hills coming in the back way are less steep, and he managed to get up and down, with only one slip. It was coming downhill to our house, but he did that okay, too, and parked in a driveway across from our house. It was a relief to get home.

And then, of course, the sun came out. It was just for a few minutes, but it did warm up enough to clear off the streets. It was a pretty snow, but was gone before we could get out to get some pictures.

Now that it’s cooling back down overnight, the wet places will freeze again, so there will be some treacherous places on the streets in the morning. But we don’t have to go anywhere, so no problem for us.

I took the opportunity to make this year’s supply of split pea soup.
The pot is out on the porch cooling overnight. When it warms up tomorrow, I’ll get out for some freezer bags, so we can get it in the freezer. At least we did get something accomplished today.

But sometimes....

I love living in Tennessee, but sometimes….

This story from the Huffington Post just blew my mind.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

A Tennessee dog owner sent his pet to be euthanized because he suspected the dog was "gay." Fortunately, the pup was later adopted.

A Jackson, Tenn., resident surrendered his "gay" dog for euthanization to the Jackson Rabies Control Animal Shelter on Jan. 29 because he saw his male pitbull/American bulldog mix "humping" another male dog, the Examiner reports.

The Huffington Post confirmed with Jackson Rabies Control, a high-kill shelter, that the dog had been surrendered because his owner believed he was "gay."

Although animals can be gay, dogs mount each other to express dominance, for play or because of nervousness/excitement, Psychology Today notes.

A Facebook campaign was set up to try and save the "gay dog", according to the Atlantic. A Facebook post detailing the troubling situation called for immediate action.
Via Facebook:

This guy was signed over to RC, not bc he's mean or bc he tears things up, but because... His owner says he's gay! He hunched another male dog so his owner threw him away bc he refuses to have a "gay" dog! Even if that weren't the most assinine thing I've ever heard, its still discrimination! Don't let this gorgeous dog die bc his owner is ignorant of normal dog behavior! He's in kennel 10L and he WILL be put down tomorrow bc there is no room at the inn!

Luckily, the healthy pup has been saved.

Gawker notes that a woman named Stephanie Fryns, who is affiliated with the animal rescue group Woof Connections,, said that she planned to adopt the dog.

"I am adopting this big boy first thing in the morning," she wrote on the Facebook page for the animal rescue group Save the Animals Together. "He will be neutered/ htwm tested/ and vetted. He will be temperament tested and then places in a rescue verified and approved home."
A Jackson Rabies Control employee confirmed to HuffPost that the dog was adopted on Thursday morning. He had been scheduled to be euthanized at 1:00 p.m., according to the Examiner.

UPDATE: The rescued dog's name is Elton, ABC News confirms, and he was saved from euthanization by Fryns, who already owns four dogs. Although Elton has some redness around his ears, Fryns does not believe he was used in dog fights.

"[Elton] was pretty friendly so far," she told ABC News. "He’s pretty scared of everything, which is understandable. But he loved the car ride.” 

The followup gets even more weird.  Click here for a followup when a Roman Catholic leader puts his two cents worth in. 

Seriously!

 

Hither and thither!

Different stuff going on around here today. I went to the grocery stores; John bundled up and went to walk on the Riverwalk and get some sunshine.

I went to Zaxby's to lunch with Vicki; John took a nap.

John and Margaret went to a Lady Vols' game tonight (they had an easy time winning over Mississippi State); I went to a candidates’ forum tonight to learn more about those running in our city election in March. I think I got enough information to make a decision.

It's not often we do so much, going in different directions.